No One Like You
by LordByronMudkippington
Summary: Maki is definitely not interested in the annoyingly energetic girl from the coffee shop, no matter how cute she is. That's what she keeps telling herself, at least.


There was something irresistibly enticing about that hot head of scarlet hair, the only part of Rin's mystery person that she could see. The rest of this person's body was shrouded in mystery, or rather the booth that they were sitting in. She bet that the person sitting in that booth was a girl. She was probably smoking hot too. Hot, mysterious girls always sat in corner booths.

Leaning over her own booth, Rin felt a rush of excitement pulsate through her body. Whoever this person was, she wanted to meet them. They were probably exciting and interesting, tendencies that drew her towards people like a magnet. Her voyeuristic viewing was abruptly halted, however, when a rough hand grabbed her by the collar of her jacket and yanked her back into the booth. When she looked up, she gulped when a pair of annoyed amber eyes were staring down at her.

"H-Hey Umi-chan!" Rin gave her friend a nervous smile, sitting up a bit straighter under that narrowed gaze. Admittedly she was a bit scared whenever Umi's face looked like that, the face of a woman who was so very, very done with the tomfoolery happening in front of her. That didn't mean she was going to behave exactly, but she had lots of respect for her regardless.

"What do you think you're doing?" Umi cocked an eyebrow, crossing her arms in a show of displeasure over Rin's callous disregard for the integrity of the booths they were allowed to be seated in.

"Checking out that cool, mysterious girl over there!" Without getting back up, Rin pointed over the booth and towards where she had previously been staring. Umi took a quick look for herself, frowning slightly at the sight.

"How do you even know they're female?"

"I can just feel it, Umi-chan!" That got a slight eye roll from her friend, but Rin wasn't ready to be deterred just yet. Hopping up from her seat, she purposely made for that corner booth with the stranger hiding just out of sight from her excited eyes. Ignoring Umi's surprised utterance of protest, she strode over and, without any invitation, slid into the side of the booth opposite of the person in question. "Hiya!"

She had been right: it was a female. The girl in question jerked her head up in surprise, startled out of her literature-addled stupor. A light-blue textbook - something about medicine, by the looks of it - was held loosely in her hand, while three other textbooks were stacked neatly next to her on the table. That head of red hair that had captivated her so fell just below shoulder-length, framing a pale but lovely face. Now that Rin could get a better glimpse of her, she was struck by how pretty and deep the girl's eyes were, glistening amethysts that somehow sparkled beneath the dull lights of the coffee shop.

Those eyes, holding a glimmer of surprise at having been interrupted, suddenly narrowed in a clear showing of irritation, and Rin couldn't help but notice how much that look reminded her of Umi. They peered at her over a smart-looking pair of glasses hanging precariously on the bridge of the girl's nose. When she opened her mouth, the voice that greeted her ears was husky and melodic, a sound that would make anything sound irresistible. The words she spoke, however, were not quite as sweet.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Like a vocalized styling of those annoyed eyes, her words got a sheepish grin out of Rin, who shrugged slightly before leaning forward, elbows firmly on the table.

"Just wanted to come and say hi! You looked really interesting." That earned her a raised eyebrow of suspicion, and now Rin was really wondering if this girl was a long-lost cousin of Umi's or something.

"Are you stalking me or something?"

"Eh? No!" Rin's mouth dropped open, then she began laughing, though her new unwilling companion did not decide to join in. "This is the first time I've seen you, I swear!"

"Uh huh..." The girl picked up her cup of coffee and put it to her lips, tipping it back slightly to take a slow sip. Her eyes never once left Rin, which was starting to unnerve her slightly. That gaze could burn a hole through solid steel. "Well if you don't mind, I'm trying to study here."

"Oh, I don't mind!" That finally broke the girl's cool composure. Her expression went from one of annoyance to one of utter exasperation, mouth slightly ajar as if trying to figure out how to respond to that. Luckily someone else decided to come over and intervene.

"Rin!" Umi finally made her way over, grabbing her friend by the arm and dragging her onto her feet. "I apologize for my friend's impetuous behavior." She bowed to the redhead, who seemed a bit uncomfortable with having another person's attention on them.

"Uh, it's fine." She lifted a hand to her hair and slowly twirled a strand of scarlet around her finger, her eyes glancing between Umi, Rin, and her open textbook. "I just have a lot of studying to do, so I don't really have time for distractions."

"Of course. I understand. Have a pleasant day." Umi bowed once more, then yanked on Rin's arm and started dragging her away, ignoring her junior's loud yelps.

"W-Wait! What's your name?" She called out as she was being pulled away, no longer able to see the girl past the booth. It felt imperative that she could place a name to that pretty face, though. For a tense moment, as the distance between them slowly grew in size, Rin thought that she was going to be denied an answer, and she would forever have to wonder. Then, just as all hope seemed lost, a wondrous voice reached her ears, holding the information she so dearly desired.

"Maki." What a beautiful name. Rin really liked her already.

* * *

"I like her! She was so cute, wasn't she? Wasn't she, Umi-chan?" Rin was insatiably excited, practically bouncing up and down on the couch. Umi, meanwhile, just pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to remain calm. She had luckily gotten over the mortification of having to drag her overly-energetic friend away from some poor, innocent girl who was just trying to study, but now she had to deal with Rin's new fixation. How did someone even get so attached to someone they had barely even talked to?

"She sounds adorable, Rin-chan." Another voice piped up from the loveseat situated across from the couch. Umi could only groan as she fixed the offending party with a narrowed glare.

"Don't encourage her, Nozomi." In times like these, when she was giving her best, most stern advice, neither Rin nor Nozomi tended to heed it, and by the smile on Nozomi's face, it was clear that this time would be no different.

"So Maki-chan, huh?" Their purple-haired upperclassman tapped her chin with a finger, eyes brightening at the prospect of Rin having found someone to crush on. Based on the story she was told upon Rin and Umi getting home, Nozomi wasn't surprised that the youngest of the three would choose someone so aloof and abrasive. Rin seemed to have interesting tastes. "Did you get her number?"

"No," Rin pouted, pointedly looking towards Umi. "Umi-chan pulled me away before I could even think to ask!"

"That wasn't very nice, Umi-chan." Umi balked at the two of them staring at her, putting up her arms defensively.

"H-How is this my fault? Rin just sat down across from a complete stranger without any kind of provocation! That is not behavior that should be encouraged!"

"Hm... I think it was cute. You took away poor Rin-chan's chance at true love." Rin's eyes widened and she looked at Umi with a hurt expression. Umi could only sigh in defeat as she laid her head back on the couch. Nozomi never took her side in these affairs.

"I guess I won't get to see her again." Rin sighed and pulled her legs up to her chest, falling over on her side and into Umi's lap, startling her blue-haired friend. Nozomi laughed as Umi sighed deeply, gently petting Rin and muttering a soft apology.

"Don't worry, Rin-chan. I'll find her for you. No worries!"

"Really, Nozomi-chan?" Rin perked up immediately, lifting herself off of Umi's lap to stare wide-eyed at Nozomi.

"Of course!" Pulling a deck of tarot cards out of her pocket, Nozomi hovered her hand over them intently, much to Rin's delight. Umi prayed that, for this Maki girl's sake, Nozomi never found her.

* * *

"No way! You actually like someone?"

"Shut up! I didn't say that!"

"Then why did you even mention her?"

"Sh-She was interesting, that's all."

"You said her hair was like the sun."

"That's a normal thing to say!"

"No it's not!"

Maki groaned and slammed her head against her desk, hiding her rapidly-reddening face from the smug grin plastered across her computer screen. She should have just said nothing at all. How was she supposed to know that her stupid friend would take things and spiral them out of control? ... Okay, maybe she should have seen this coming. "You can't hide from me down there, Maki-chan."

"Don't make me hang up on you, Nico-chan."

"You wouldn't dare." Lifting her head up, Maki took one look at the smug, self-assured look on Nico's face, then moved her mouse over to the end call button and clicked it. Three seconds later, Nico was calling her back, a call which she reluctantly answered. "You suck, Maki-chan!"

"Be serious for once."

"I am being serious! You like her. And don't you _dare_ hang up again, or I'll spam your phone with emojis!" Maki pulled her hand off of the mouse quickly, sighing deeply. For someone who was delegated exclusively to a little screen inside of a computer, Nico sure could be more annoying than most people whom she could actually interact with.

"I'm telling you, she just popped over unannounced and started trying to talk to me. It was weird."

"Sounds romantic."

"It wasn't." She didn't understand why Nico was so insistent in her belief that there was something between herself and that weird Rin girl. They had talked for like a minute, and Rin had been pushy and annoying and pretty... Wait, one of those wasn't right.

"Your blush says otherwise." That only made her apparent blush grow brighter, and she pressed her palms to her cheeks to try and hide it. What the hell was her body doing? She was _not_ interested in that random girl from the coffee shop. Absolutely not. "For Gods' sake, Maki-chan, how long have I known you? Give me a little credit, jeez."

Maki grumbled noncommittally, though Nico had at least a tiny little point. They _had_ been friends for about six years now, which was pretty long considering that they'd never once met each other. It had never been easy for her to make friends, so she ended up seeking the comfort of companions online, which is where she found Nico. Despite their almost-daily arguments and how unfathomably annoying she was, Maki could no longer imagine a life without Nico in it.

"Do you know anything else about her?"

"Just that she has a friend with blue hair." She shrugged, like it was no big deal, which it wasn't. It was a hundred percent no big deal.

"Well, you always go to that coffee shop, right? Maybe she'll come back, or her friend will, and you can go talk to her."

"I'm not doing that." Just because Rin interrupted her studying time didn't mean she would do the same, even if this random stranger just happened to be in the same place as her again.

"Alright, I know you're socially anxious and all..."

"I am _not_ socially anxious!"

"Says the girl who cried at her own birthday party."

"Hey, I was really young!"

"Really young? You were twelve." Maki wanted to die. Why did she tell Nico anything? She went right back to hiding her face against the desk, her blush hot enough to burn a hole through it. "Anyway, if she sees you, she'll end up going to you, right? You made her seem like someone who would do that."

"Yeah, I guess..."

"So just do that." Nico scoffed, rolling her eyes dramatically. "So useless, making me do all the work for you."

"Whatever..." Maki glanced up from her desk, her hand automatically going up to her hair. It was an action that was almost unconscious by this point, something that Nico could always rely on seeing whenever the redhead was flustered or nervous. "Th-Thanks, Nico-chan."

"That's what friends are for." That got Maki to smile, however slightly, and Nico brightened up at the rare sight. "Speaking of that, if Rin's friend is single, think you could hook me up?" Maki hung up on her.

* * *

A couple of days later, Maki was walking to class when once again she was accosted by a stranger. This time, however, it wasn't an energetic girl bouncing into her secluded booth. Instead, it was a young women who grabbed her and pulled her out of the hall, her startled yelp going unheard or unheeded by the rest of the students milling around.

Her wide eyes stared directly into a pair of mirthful turquoise orbs, a playful smile on the woman's face. "Red hair, loner vibe. You must be Maki-chan!"

"H-How the hell do you know my name?" Was she actually being stalked this time? How had she become such a popular target all of a sudden? She didn't even interact with anyone! Why were people now wanting to distract her with their insistence?

"I have a friend who really seems keen on you, Maki-chan, so I promised her I'd find you."

"Wait..." Well, who else could it be? "Don't tell me... You're Rin's friend too, then?"

"Ooh, good eye, Maki-chan!" It seemed that Rin was not so easy to escape. They'd only spoken for a moment, though. Why was she so insistent on seeing Maki again that she had her friend go looking for her?

"While I do enjoy being grabbed against my will by strangers, I have class in a couple minutes, so do you mind letting me go?"

"Oh, of course!" The purple-haired woman let her go, but didn't make any motion to move away. "But, I _would_ like something from you."

"And what might that be?"

"Your number."

"My number?" Maki arched an eyebrow, placing a hand on her hip. _"_ And just why would I give that to you?"

The woman giggled in response. "Because you're so enchanted by my effervescent personality?"

"Hardly."

"Aww, you're no fun, Maki-chan!" She pouted but couldn't hold it for long, covering her mouth with a hand to stifle her laughter. "It's for Rin-chan. She really wants to talk to you again." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her phone and put it into Maki's hands. "Just put your number into my phone and I'll get it to her." The thought crossed Maki's mind that she didn't actually have to do this. Why did she need to give her number to some weird chick and her somehow equally as weird friend on top of that? She had better things to do with her time. Despite these sensible thoughts, she found herself opening up Nozomi's phone to put in her number. Fine, but she did _not_ have a crush or anything.

Sliding past the lock screen, she went into the contacts and punched in her number, handing back the phone with a sigh after she was done. "There. Just don't call me at weird times."

"Scouts' honor, Maki-chan." There was a big grin on her face though, making the redhead wonder just how much stock she could put into that promise. She didn't have any more time to waste standing around though, so she turned and started to walk away.

"I'm going to class."

"See ya later then, Maki-chan!" Maki gave the woman a half-hearted wave without looking back, picking up the pace in order to make it to class on time.

* * *

"I can't believe you found her!" Rin jumped in excitement, rushing over to nearly tackle Nozomi with a huge hug.

"I can't believe it either," Umi sighed, having months ago lost the ability to truly doubt Nozomi's ability to do exactly what she said she would do. That didn't mean she would stop disapproving of this behavior, though. "Please don't tell me you did anything shameless to her."

"Umi-chan, how could you think so ill of me? Your best friend in the whole wide world?" Nozomi could cutely pout with the best of them, but Umi refused to be phased by such attempts. She merely rolled her eyes at such a disingenuous ploy.

"Remember when I suggested for Rin to room with us? You said she needed to pass the 'Butt Inspection Test'."

"And she passed with flying colors!"

"There is no such thing!"

"That's so narrow-minded of you, Umi-chan." The Gods were truly testing her. Slapping a hand against her face, Umi turned around and went into the kitchen, wanting no part of this shameless tomfoolery. That left Nozomi and Rin alone in their living room, which was usually not a good thing. "So, Rin-chan, are you gonna call her?"

That would've seemed to be an exciting prospect, but surprisingly, the question seemed to make Rin visibly nervous. She nervously chuckled as she rubbed the back of her head with a hand. "Yeah, I… I will…"

"Are you nervous, Rin-chan?"

"Nyahaha… Uh, well, maybe." Rin smiled sheepishly, a light blush creeping up to her cheeks. Now that was certainly unusual, but for some reason, calling the cute girl from the coffee shop brought on a lot more trepidation than having originally talking to her unannounced.

Nozomi pulled her phone out and clicked on her new contact, passing the phone into Rin's hands. "Rin-chan, let me tell you a story about a girl who once was too nervous to talk to the hot foreign exchange student. She pined after the beautiful blonde with such piercing blue eyes every day, always watching from afar, never gathering the courage to go and speak with her. And do you know what happened to this fair maiden?"

"N-No," Rin murmured, eyes wide as she hung onto every word of Nozomi's riveting story. "What happened, Nozomi-chan?" A big grin slowly spread on her face as Nozomi pointed towards the kitchen.

"She ended up being Umi-chan."

"That is _not_ what happened!" Umi stormed into the room, face flushed with embarrassment. Glaring at Nozomi, she muttered only loud enough for the purple-haired woman to hear, "I'm _never_ telling you anything again."

Looking between her two bickering roommates, then down at Nozomi's phone still cradled in her hands, Rin made her decision. Grabbing her own phone, she duplicated the contact into hers, then offered Nozomi's phone back to her. "Alright, I can do this, nya!" Nozomi beamed at Rin's choice, while Umi merely shook her head. Pressing the call button, she had to keep herself from bouncing up and down while listening to the phone ringing. She couldn't help but feel disappointed when, after four rings, it went to voicemail.

* * *

She couldn't believe that she had given her number to a complete stranger, the friend of another stranger at that. Why had she done that? She certainly didn't need the constant distractions that were sure to come from it.

"It's because you like her, isn't it, Maki-chan?"

"Oh Gods, not you too." Maki grumbled at the giggle she received from the other line, pouting at the girl in question. "Kotoriiiii."

"Aw Maki-chan, what's the harm of at least meeting up with her again? Besides, wouldn't it be nice to make a friend while you're at university? I worry about you, you know."

"Jeez, Kotori, I'm fine. You don't have to worry so much." A faint blush reached Maki's cheeks, and she purposefully looked away from the screen. Kotori was a really sweet person, but Maki felt like she worried a bit too much about her. It wasn't like she needed a bunch of friends: she had Kotori and Nico, after all. Sure, they weren't actually there with her, but that still counted, right?

"Ehehe, sorry, Maki-chan, I just-" The ringing of a phone interrupted their conversation, startling the two of them. It turned out to be Maki's phone, sounding off next to her on the desk. Peering over at it, it turned out to be a number she didn't recognize. It could just be an accidental dialing, but she had just given her number to Rin's other friend. Could this be Rin, then? "Maki-chan, aren't you going to answer it?"

"Eh?!" Maki jolted up, visibly nervous. Her eyes darted between Kotori and the still-ringing phone. "A-Ah, it's probably a wrong number. Yeah, I don't want to deal with that."

"Maki-chan…"

"I wouldn't answer another call while I'm talking to you. That would be rude."

"Maki-chan, you should-" The ringing stopped. Maki breathed a sigh of relief, only to get a look of disappointment from Kotori. "It's rude to ignore someone like that, Maki-chan."

"I-I…"

"Call them back." Maki whined softly, but didn't make another attempt at arguing. She grabbed her phone and went to her missed calls, pressing on the latest one and putting the phone up to her ear. Kotori gave her an encouraging smile, but it couldn't chase away the worries running around her brain. Maybe they wouldn't answer, though. Maybe once was enough to give up-

"Maki-chan?" Drat.

"H-Hey, uh… I-Is this Rin?" She was already stuttering. This was a bad sign.

"Yes! Hi Maki-chan!" What was she supposed to say? She looked at Kotori with wide eyes, silently asking for help, but all she got in return was Kotori mouthing 'You got this!' She certainly did not.

"Uh, so! How, uh… How are you?" Oh Gods, she was crashing and burning. Why was this so hard? It was just talking to some girl she'd only met once. That shouldn't be too hard, right? Other people did it all the time. There had to be something of substance she could say to the cute girl- Wait, wait, no, she was _not_ cute! Okay, she kind of was. Really, really was…

Turning redder by the second, she covered the phone's speaker with her hand and whispered desperately to Kotori, who looked like she was experiencing some intense secondhand embarrassment. "Help me!"

"Breathe, Maki-chan, breathe!" Maki nodded shakily and took a deep breath, exhaling as she heard Rin's voice, a bit far off because she had the phone away from her ear.

"-You?"

"What?"

"I asked how you were."

"I asked you first."

"But I told you, Maki-chan." Oh. She must've had the phone too far from her ear when it was said.

"Uh, g-good." This barely counted as conversation. Pressing the phone against her ear using her shoulder, she hurriedly typed a message out to Kotori.

 _MackAttack: Can I hang up? Is that rude? I need to hang up._

 _Kotobird: Maki no!_  
 _Kotobird: Don't you dare do that!_

 _MackAttack: I'm dying, Kotori!_

 _Kotobird: Just ask her to get coffee. You talked to her there already, right?_

 _MackAttack: Yeah..._

She just had to say it without hesitation, then. That would be the easiest thing to do: just get it out there. "Do you want to get coffee?" The words fell out of her mouth in a jumbled mess, but she finally said something, so at least that was out of the way-

"-Studying?" Wait, what? "What did you say, Maki-chan?"

"N-Nothing!" She hadn't been listening again: how mortifying. Frantic, hushed whispering could be heard in the background, but Maki couldn't tell who was talking or what was being said.

"Sure!"

"S-Sure what?"

"I'll have coffee with you!" Oh, right, she had asked that. How had Rin even deciphered the mess of syntax she had spit out? "Saturday at 11?"

"Uh, yeah... Yeah, sure."

"Yay! See ya there, Maki-chan!"

"Yeah, see you." The call ended, but Maki still held the phone to her ear, the dead line droning on as she stared at the wall in bewilderment. What exactly had she agreed to? No, not agreed to, initiated. What had she initiated? Looking at her computer, Kotori had the brightest smile on her face.

"Aww, have fun on your date, Maki-chan!"

"D-Date?!" Oh god, she had asked the strange excitable cute girl from the coffee shop on a date. Maki hid her face in her hands and groaned.

* * *

All week Maki stressed out about this 'date' she was now obligated to go on. It wasn't like she could cancel due to reasons of insanity: according to Kotori, that was 'rude'. So now she was pretty much stuck.

When she woke up Saturday morning, she was confused about why her alarm had woken her up so early. Surely she should be allowed to sleep in on Saturday. Then it hit her: the date. Letting her head hit the pillow again, she wondered if sleeping through her alarm would be an acceptable option. No, probably not. With a sigh, she got out of bed and went to get ready.

For the first time, she cringed while looking through her closet. All of her outfits were either too formal or too casual. She had never purchased anything that would make her stand out, so she doubted there was anything 'date-appropriate' hidden within. With not a lot of different options to choose from, she was relegated to picking out a pair of faded jeans and a t-shirt with one of her favorite rock bands emblazoned on the front. It was at least chilly enough that she could wear a jacket to hide part of her utterly casual attire.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she wondered if makeup was expected on a first date with someone you barely knew. She didn't have any makeup anyway. Well, except for eyeliner, but there were some decent black circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, so maybe that would do. It wasn't worth stressing over something she didn't have anyway. This would just have to do.

Her hands were shoved firmly in her jacket pockets as she walked to the on-campus coffee shop. This was such a terrible idea, and she still had no clue why she was going through with it. If only Rin wasn't so cute... Bad thoughts, bad thoughts.

She made it at 11 sharp and went up to the counter to order coffee. If this day got any more embarrassing than her phone call had been, she'd certainly need it. When she turned around to go and find a table, she found herself face to face with Rin. It was a miracle she didn't scream or fall over, but she was very close to it. "R-Rin! What do you think you're doing?"

"Eh? I'm meeting you for our date." Rin tilted her head in confusion, but it was her words that forced a blush to Maki's cheeks.

"D-Don't call it that!"

"But it _is_ a date, isn't it?" Not having much in the way of further arguments, Maki just grumbled and stood there while Rin ordered, then the two of them went to find a table. As Maki liked to choose, it was a corner booth, and they sat opposite of each other, silent for several moments as if they were sizing each other up. She noticed that Rin wasn't wearing anything particularly fancy, but she still looked very nice in a sun-kissed dress. It made her own attire feel inadequate by comparison. On instinct, she grabbed the sides of her jacket and pulled it in closer to her.

They made small conversation until their drinks were ready, an awkward affair that Maki always performed poorly at. She didn't even know what to say or what to talk about. Maybe they could have a conversation over the first thing that popped into her head. Then again, she severely doubted that Rin knew anything about modern medicine, so that would be a rather one-sided topic. What else came to mind?...

"You're cute."

"M-Me? I am?" No, that would be an embarrassing thing to say. She was embarrassed just thinking it, and it was _not_ how she felt no matter how... Wait, did she just say that out loud?!

"I-I-I... I didn't say anything."

"I just heard you say it, though." Rin's face was getting pretty red as well, but that was nothing to the volcanic burn all over Maki's entire being.

"Y-You're delusional!" That was louder than she intended. Grabbing her cup, she swallowed down a large gulp of coffee to try and distract herself. It was successful: the coffee was still pretty damn hot. Adding another heated feeling to her burning shame, Maki's face contorted in pain as she slowly put down her cup and grabbed the table, trying her hardest not to scream.

"M-Maki-chan, are you okay?"

"Mm." There wasn't much besides monosyllabic grunts she could voice at the moment, and her eyes drifted around to stare at anything but her 'date'. Oh Gods, this really was a date, wasn't it? Well then, her very first date ever was a colossal and spectacular failure. Not even ten minutes in too: that had to be some kind of record. Foregoing her coffee, the beverage that had betrayed her so, she stood up stiffly and nodded slightly to Rin. "This was a bad idea. I'm sorry for wasting your time, Rin. I need to go." Kotori would be disappointed in her for her rude exit, and she'd probably never hear the end of it from Nico, but maybe she could just... fudge the details a little. That shouldn't be too hard.

Before she could make her exit, Rin grabbed her wrist and gently tugged, forcing Maki to stop and turn around. "Maki-chan, you don't have to go! It's only been a few minutes!"

"I-I know..."

"We could see a movie if you wanted."

"I-I..."

"If we're at a movie, we'd have to be quiet."

* * *

So they went to a movie. This was a lot easier for Maki to handle, and she felt much more comfortable sitting next to Rin in the dark theater. About halfway through the film, Rin seemed to be mostly concentrating on the film, munching on popcorn and unaware that Maki was stealing glances of her every few minutes. It would be so much easier to believe that her date wasn't cute if she wasn't so damn cute. Dammit.

As she looked away from the movie once again, she caught sight of Rin's free hand: the one not covered in butter. Was it required to hold hands during a first date? Should she offer, or just do it on without asking? Why was all of this so difficult? Acting on a whim, she grabbed Rin's hand, catching her off-guard. "Maki-chan?"

"My hand is cold," she murmured bluntly, staring at the screen. "I want you to warm it up." She refused to turn and see what kind of expression Rin was making, but she did hear a quiet but unmistakable laugh.

"Aye aye, Maki-chan." She squeezed Maki's hand, and that made her glance over again to find Rin smiling at her. For someone who was almost entirely boundless energy, she could be quite calm when she wanted to. _If_ she wanted to. Maki leaned back with a soft sigh, subtly entwining her fingers with Rin's. Now her hand was feeling way too heated, but she didn't dare move it.

When the credits started rolling, the two girls stayed seated and watched them scroll lazily down, looking over at each other soon enough. "Th-This was fun," Maki admitted, reaching up with her free hand to twirl her hair. "For a sub-par movie, anyway."

Rin laughed and gave Maki's hand another squeeze. "We should do this again, nya!"

"I get to pick the movie then." Rin nodded in agreement, coaxing a smile out of Maki. She wanted to brag to Nico that she went on a real, legitimate date with someone and wasn't anxious no matter what the definition of anxiety might say. Then again, she didn't want her friend getting all smug about being right on the fact that Maki maybe, slightly, sort of liked Rin. Hmm... She did say to ask if Rin's friend was single, right?

"Hey Rin, about your purple-haired friend..."

"Nozomi-chan?"

"Yeah, her. See, my friend wanted to know if she was single. She's quite lonely, you see."

"Aww, that's no fun! Well, I dunno how Nozomi feels, but I bet she'd love to talk to your friend."

"That's good." Maki couldn't help but grin, knowing just how well Nico would get along with someone like Nozomi. "I bet they'll hit it off right away." This was going to be fun.


End file.
